The entire funding has recently been obtained in Belgium for the construction of a 4m Liquid Mirror Telescope. Its prime focus will be equipped with a semi-conventional glass corrector allowing to correct ... [more ▼]

The entire funding has recently been obtained in Belgium for the construction of a 4m Liquid Mirror Telescope. Its prime focus will be equipped with a semi-conventional glass corrector allowing to correct for the TDI effect and a thinned, high quantum efficiency, 4K × 4K pixel equivalent CCD camera. It will be capable of subarcsecond imaging in the i'(760 nm) and possibly r', g' band(s) over a field of ~ 30' in diameter. This facility will be entirely dedicated to a deep photometric and astrometric variability survey over a period of ~ 5 years. In this paper, the working principle of liquid mirror telescopes is first recalled, along with the advantages and disadvantages of the latter over classical telescopes. Several science cases are described. For a good access to one of the galactic poles, the best image quality sites for the ILMT are located either in Northern Chile (latitude near -29°30') or in North-East India (Nainital Hills, latitude near +29°30'). At those geographic latitudes, a deep (i' = 22.5 mag.) survey will approximately cover 90 square degrees at high galactic latitude, which is very useful for gravitational lensing studies as well as for the identification of various classes of interesting galactic and extragalactic objects (cf. microlensed stars, supernovae, clusters, etc.). A description of the telescope, its instrumentation and the handling of the data is also presented. [less ▲]

The working principle of liquid mirror telescopes (LMTs) is first reviewed along with their advantages and disadvantages over classical telescopes. For several reasons (access to regions near the south ... [more ▼]

The working principle of liquid mirror telescopes (LMTs) is first reviewed along with their advantages and disadvantages over classical telescopes. For several reasons (access to regions near the south galactic pole, galactic center, good image quality, etc.), an excellent site for such an LMT is the Atacama desert. A deep (B~24 mag) LMT survey at latitudes near -22deg -- -29deg will cover ~90 square degrees at high galactic latitude and be especially useful for gravitational lensing studies, for the identification of various classes of interesting extragalactic objects (cf. clusters, supernovae, etc. at high redshift) and for subsequent follow-up observations with 8 m-class telescopes. A short description of the handling of data products is also presented. [less ▲]

The working principle of liquid mirror telescopes (LMTs) is first reminded as well as their advantages and disadvantages over classical telescopes. For several obvious reasons (access to regions near the ... [more ▼]

The working principle of liquid mirror telescopes (LMTs) is first reminded as well as their advantages and disadvantages over classical telescopes. For several obvious reasons (access to regions near the south galactic pole, galactic center, good image quality, ...), a best site location for such a LMT is somewhere in the Atacama desert. At latitudes near -22 - -29 degree, a deep (B = 24 mag.) LMT survey will approximately cover 90 square degrees at high galactic latitude, specially useful for gravitational lensing studies, for the identification of various classes of interesting extragalactic objects (cf. clusters, supernovae, etc. at high redshift) and subsequent follow-up observations with 8m-class telescopes. A short description of the handling of data products is also presented. [less ▲]